


The New Kid

by Kappakay



Series: The Kids Are Alright [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2013-04-18
Packaged: 2017-12-08 20:46:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/765846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kappakay/pseuds/Kappakay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new kid moves in next door, which means Dean might finally get a new playmate. Another Tumblr prompt, and the first in the kid!verse</p>
            </blockquote>





	The New Kid

Mary pads up the neighbors driveway, pie in one hand, Dean’s hand in the other, much to Dean’s chagrin. His face is on fire. It’s one thing to hold his mom’s hand when he’s sure no one else is looking, but to show up like this in front of a potential new friend’s doorway is nothing short of demoralizing. He was after all almost ten years old, way too old to be relying on Mommy to lead the way. As soon as the pair reaches the top of the stairs, Mary lets go of Dean’s hand and rings the doorbell. Dean hides his hands behind his back before his mom can take his hand again. He is not going to embarrass himself today.

The chime rings a happy tune inside the house; it’s ambiance reflecting the size of the interior of the house. Deep inside, Dean can hear the thump of footsteps, loud and even and it isn’t long before the door opens to reveal a scrawny man with thin-rimmed glasses perched on the edge of his nose. He seems young, if a bit frazzled, his hair sticking up in random directions and his clothes rumpled, probably from lying on a bed or a couch. Despite his appearance though, he grins easily at the mother and her child. “Hey,” he greets. “What can I do for you?”

“Hi, I’m Mary Winchester, and this is my son Dean.” She starts, offering her hand to the man, which he takes. ‘We live next door and just thought we’d come by to welcome you to the neighborhood with some pie.” Taking back one of her hands, she offers the man the other with the pie on it.

“That rhymed.” The man chuckled, earning a weird glance from Dean. “Sorry, I’m a writer and I love hearing accidental literary uses. I’m Chuck Novak by the way.” He plucks the pie out of Mary’s hand, giving it a good sniff. “You’re welcome to come in if you want. My son Michael just made enough lemonade to sink the Spanish.” 

Mary shakes her head slightly, putting a hand on Dean’s back. “Oh no, that’s okay. We don’t want to be a burden.” She’s only looking at Chuck, so she misses the dark glare she gets from her son. He had to put up with her making a pie- not just any pie, his favorite kind- and had to suffer through the agony of not even having a taste. And then no top of that, he had been dressed by his mom to look somewhat decent. For all the trouble he had gone through for this, there was just no way Dean was walking away without meet a potential new playmate.

Chuck must have noticed the look Dean gave because he’s moving away from the door and opening his arms in an inviting gesture. “I insist.”

Smiling at the man, Mary says thank you and gently pushes Dean to do the same. About time, Dean thinks, waltzing in before Mary could change her mind again. “Kids! We have guests!” Dean pauses when he hears thunderous footsteps above him. A moment later, an entire lineup of kids comes bursting through the hallway and into the living room, all of them ranging in size and height. Dean inspects each one, separating out the ones who are too tall and too old to be his playmate. There is one boy who stands rigid, arms crossed, his eyes glaring, and another who looks to be way too mischievous for his own good. Those two get ruled out right along with the blonde haired boy looking sullen, a pretty red headed girl looking sheepish and a dorky looking boy who wouldn’t have been older than Sammy. Dean looks through the crowd again and feels his hope light on fire faster than an ant under a magnifying glass. None of the kids looked like they were his age. 

Chuck sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Where is Castiel?” Dean perks up, feeling the magnifying glass move off his hope. There is still a boy he hasn’t met, and chances are this is the guy.

The rigid boy snorts. “He’s upstairs.”

Dean looks at Chuck, feeling confused. “Why won’t he come down?”

“Castiel is very shy and he usually doesn’t like to meet new people.” Chuck explains. “Michael, can you bring down your brother please?”

The same boy as before (Michael, Dean figures), rolls his eyes. “He’s writing Dad, I don’t think he’s coming down anytime soon.”

“I can go talk to him. He doesn’t have to come downstairs if he’s doing something” Dean volunteers; rocking forward on his feet. Chuck smiles at him. 

“I don’t know if that would be a good idea, Dean.” Chuck says gently, eyeing Michael who looks less than impressed.

Mary steps up beside her son. “Dean’s been dying to meet someone his age ever since he learned you guys moved in. He’ll be on his best behavior.” She looks down at Dean sending him a silent you better behave or else look. He frowns, averting her gaze as he pouts. Figures his mom would make him sound like a girl. It’s not like he was that excited to meet the kid, he was just interested in playing with someone who wasn’t young enough to still eat boogers or old enough to think playing with Hot Rods was childish. Sure, it was fun playing with Sammy or with is friend Benny just a few blocks up, but finding out that someone was the same age as him…

Okay, fine, he was excited. But his mom didn’t need to tell others that.

Chuck contemplates it for a beat, and then nods his head. “Alright fair enough. Just up the stairs and the first door on your left. Knock first though, Castiel gets really sticky on manners.” Dean’s lips fight to smile. Instead he calmly nods his head, walking past Michael and the other kids, heading down the hallway that all the kids appeared out of and up the stairs. As he climbs each step, his excitement level rises. He doesn’t know why exactly a kid would choose to stay locked up in his own room when he could be doing fun things outside, especially since Dean eyed a basketball hoop on the garage door. If Dean lived here, he’d be all over that. 

As he reached the top of the stairs, he glanced down the wide hallway, seeing a lot of open doors speckling the walls. He looks directly to his left, scanning until his eyes fall on the one he was looking for. It was the only door that is insanely neat, only a small ‘Kindly leave me in peace’ sign taped to it. Dean moved in front of it, raising his hand to initially open the door, then remembered Chuck’s advice and knocked three times. 

“Go away, Michael. I’m not coming down.” A gravely voice said behind the door, his exasperation making its way past the wooden barrier. Dean ignores him and knocks again in a weird rhythm. “I’m not coming down.” Dean knocks again, adding more fun little flourishes to it, like he’s knocking out a code. Behind the door, he hears the boy sigh, feet padding on the floor. A lock clicks and the doorknob twists, the wooden barrier being moved promptly out of place, where Dean finds himself face to face with a boy his height. Dean took in the boy before him quickly, he was-for lack of a better word- nerdy looking. Scrawny build, with long lanky arm and wild messy hair.. the dude looked a bit like Harry Potter.

The boy- Castiel- was not expecting to see a stranger. His bright blue eyes widen, his whole body goes rigid and his mouth forms an ‘o’. “You’re not Michael.” He says slowly, as if waiting for Dean to miraculously change into his older brother.

Dean shakes his head slowly. “I’m Dean.” He holds his hand out the same way he saw his mom do earlier. Castiel stares down at it like he’s not sure what to do. An awkward silence hangs between the two of them, until Dean decided to pull his hand back. Twining his hands behind his back, he rocks back on his heels. “You must be Castiel.”

“Yes, that is my name.” The other boy deadpans, his eyes boring intensely into Dean’s. Feeling a blush work its way onto his face, Dean looks away, his eyes scanning the inside of the boys room. He’s surprised to see it’s not as nicely put together as the outside. Books are lying all over the floor, his desk covered in paper. All in all though, it looks like a schoolboy room. Dean’s eyes fall on the only thing out of place: a giant rainbow slinky sitting amongst the disarray of books on the bookshelf. Even though he can hear Castiel protest, Dean pushes his way inside, his eyes lit up like green fire. “No way man! You have a giant rainbow slinky?”

Castiel works his mouth, confusion painted on his face. “Yes, I won it at school. Look.. can you…-“ Castiel swings his arms, trying to find the right words, but Dean isn’t really paying attention. He plucks the slinky off its perch, using both his hands to hold it properly.

“Dude, you have to tell me how you got this.” He seesaws his hands, watching it expand into a rainbow, then contract, the pretty multicolored coils springing up and down.

“As I said, I won it at school.”

“Oh come on, you have to have a story that goes with it.”

“Well it was at a school fair and it was a shooting game-“

“Really?! I love those games.” Dean’s attention shifted to Cas, his hands pausing in their fun. “You must be a good shooter then.”

Castiel blushes, looking down at his feet. “I guess so.”

“You should teach me.” 

Castiel’s head snaps back up to look at Dean. “You’d want me to… teach you?”

Eyes roaming around Castiel’s room, Dean nods. “Ya. And we could play basketball too.”

“You want to play with me?”

”Of course dude!”

“But I…” Castiel shifts his feet, and starts fiddling with his fingers, looking nervously around his room. “I don’t know how to play … basketball.”

Dean stops in his tracks, turning on his heel to look at Castiel proper. “You serious?” At Castiel’s continued silence and constant fidgeting, Dean shakes his head. Resolved to fix it, he puts the slinky back on the bookshelf and strides over to the other boy, grabbing his hand.

“What are you-?”

“I’m going to teach you how to play Cas.” Dean pulls Castiel behind him, not finding a great amount of resistance from the other boy. Down the hall and down the stairs they go, back into the living room and out the front door. It’s only when they are standing in front of the hoop that Dean realizes he lacks a fundamental supply. “Does your family have a ball?”

Castiel shrugs his shoulders, not looking directly at Dean. He sighs, pursing his lips, when an idea strikes him. “I’ll be right back.” He drops Castiel’s hand and runs back to his house, clambering into the garage. It doesn’t take long to find the ball he was looking for, so he’s back at Castiel’s house in no time. Brandishing the ball before the other boy, Dean smiles and starts to dribble as he makes his way back up the driveway. Castiel’s eyes follow the motions with interest, eyes bouncing up and down in time with the ball. “Dude, have you never played basketball like ever? Or even watched it?”

Stuffing his hands in his pocket, Castiel kicks the asphalt under his feet. “I’ve watched my brothers play, but I’ve never really been a part of it.”

Dean stops his dribbling, feeling a wave of sympathy for the boy. Toying with the ball in his hands, he throws it to Castiel. The boy, caught completely by surprise, flails as the ball bounces off his arms, but still tries to catch it as it falls unperturbed to the ground, bouncing away. Dean wraps his arms around his stomach and doubles over with laughter, earning a perturbed glare from Castiel. He should feel bad that the other boy can’t catch a simple ball, but the look on his face made it even funnier. Castiel balls his fists; his face red-hot and stomps after the ball.

Dean is still wiping away tears as Cas stomps back, the ball clutched awkwardly in his small hands. “That wasn’t very funny, Dean.”

“You kidding?! The look on your face was awesome.” Dean replies, straightening up and clearing his throat. “Lighten up dude. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t catch the ball.”

Castiel throws the ball back at Dean, turning to go back inside the house. Dean feels the smile evaporate off his face. He runs to cut off Castiel, throwing his hands up in front of him. “Look man, I’m sorry I laughed, but I wasn’t laughing at you, you know?” 

Castiel narrows his eyes. “No, I don’t know.”

“It’s like,” Dean starts, pausing to think as he tries to find the right words. “If you ever saw me do something silly that made you feel funny on the inside, you’d laugh too right? Like uh…” He looks around, trying to find something to prove his point. There is nothing really. The Novak’s keep their lawn clean and pristine, nothing but the dirt in the flowerbeds to mess up the picture perfect yard.

An idea struck Dean. He gives Castiel a mischievous grin and bounds over to the garden, licking his palms. Castiel watches him and tilts his head. “What are you doing?”

Dean turns to face the other after he’s on the lawn and he kneels down. Showing Cas his hands first, he dunks them into the dirt, swishing them around until they are coated with the good stuff. Castiel blinks, his head tilting even more. Satisfied that his hands are sufficiently dirty, he raises his hands out of the garden and paints two lines on his face. Castiel’s mouth drops down, and he covers it with his despicably clean hands. Dean stands back up, and throws his arms out, like he’s about to give the other kid a hug. “Ta-da!” He says over dramatically, sticking his tongue out.

Castiel’s entire frame starts shaking, until he can’t hold it in anymore. His hand drops and Dean can see the rewarding smile on the other boy’s face his eyes alight with mirth. Feeling his own lips quirk upwards, Dean surges forward, dirty hands outstretched in front of him. Giving a yelp, Castiel runs down the side of the house, his small giggles trailing behind him. Dean follows after, yelling joking threats of ruining the boy’s good clothes and dunking him in mud. Castiel just runs around to the back, darting out of Dean’s reach as soon as he gets close and fits through a gap in the fence that barricades their two houses. Dean huffs, and follows, the nice plaid shirt his mom picked out for him snagging on the fence. He hears it rip, but he’s too busy chasing after the fading image of Castiel to really care.

It goes on like this for countless minutes; one boy busy running away from the other, both laughing so hard, and enjoying the moment that they forget their parents and the world. It is only the two of them; one caked in dirt and the other breathless as he continues to remain clean It isn’t until Chuck starts calling for Castiel and Dean that Dean finally catches him. He wraps his arms around Castiel’s waist and tackles him to the ground in a pro-football way. Castiel lets out an oof! And before he can protest proper, Dean is sitting on him, smearing the boy’s face with dirt on the ground. Castiel tries to fit him off him, but it’s hard to see with dirt in the eyes.

Chuck runs up to the boys, plucking Dean off Cas with a bit of force, looking down at his son. Dean doesn’t mind, he got what he wanted and he can see that Castiel is still smiling and laughing even as he spits up clumps of dirt. Mary comes charging out of the house and runs up to Chuck, grabbing Dean out of his arms. “Dean Winchester! What have I told you about-“

“It’s fine Mrs.” Castiel sits up proper, rubbing the dirt off his face. The whiteness of his smile was a deep contrast from the brown mess smeared all over him. His blue eyes are startling bright as he takes in his dad and his guest. “I really don’t mind.”

Chuck looks taken back by his son’s happiness. His eyebrows twitch up with his lips in a bemused expression as he and Mary exchange a glance. Letting go of Dean, Mary lets him walk back up to Castiel where he takes the other boys hand and pulls him up to his feet. Looking at each other, the boys give another quick chuckle and Dean suddenly wraps Castiel up in a hug. He feels the boy still in his arms, going tense all over, but soon his body relaxes and, next thing Dean knew, he’s getting hugged back by the boy with the strange name.

“Thank you, Dean.” He says, voice muffled. Dean backs away, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“No problem Cas.”

Eyebrows knit together as Castiel tilts his head. “’Cas’?” He repeats, as if trying to make sense of the new nickname. Dean nods.

“Ya. It’s you know, a shorter, cooler name than what you have.” Dean explains, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

“I like it.” Cas replies smugly, earning another smile from Dean. Behind Dean, Mary clears her throat.

“I hate to say this sweetie, but it’s time to go home.” Dean feels his stomach drop to the ground, his smile disappearing. He forgot they had to go out for dinner with his grandparents tonight in all the excitement of meeting his new friend. Castiel looks down at the ground, twiddling his fingers awkwardly.

“See you tomorrow, Cas?” Dean asks and Castiel looks back up at him slowly, his face open and honest with interest. 

“You… want to play again?” Castiel asks timidly. Dean nods his head.

“Of course! Playing with you was fun! Way better than my snot nosed little brother.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Castiel smiles at him full force and Dean can’t help but smile back. He decides he likes it when his new friend smiles, it’s so different than the Cas he met at first and as Mary takes his hand and waves goodbye to the Novak’s, Dean decided to make Cas smile as often as he can.


End file.
